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we have packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and SuSe, as well as a static package. The versions listed on our download links are minimum versions. It is supported on latter versions as well. Many resourceful folks have it running on unsupported distros. We do have a system requirements page, but as I write this it is out of date: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10328/What-are-the-system-requirements-for-running-Skype

We made sure we kept true to the original UI. Seeing how the Mac user base had a collective cow when we went to a unified single window, we were pretty sure the Linux users would have gone nuclear if we'd done anything similar. There is a unified chat window that we think is an improvement over N separate chat windows. But you have a config option to go with the original N separate chat windows if you prefer. The rest of the UI is very similar to what you have been using. The real value in this release lies in the internals. Many, many person-years of improvements in A/V/Core technology since the last update that make a very tangible difference to end users.

And I repeat myself in case anyone is looking at this old thread: no ads of any kind in any screen in this client.

You presume incorrectly. Its part of the/. DNA, post quickly, having a clue optional.

The update has almost nothing to do with the Microsoft purchase, other than to server as more evidence of their commitment to building Skype as an ubiquitous, network-wide, open (as in platform neutral) platform for real time communication. The credit for this release belongs to the devs that kept the build alive over the years so our release team could hammer this release home. I will note that the Skype network and product ecology has always benefited from our Linux builds. I'm personally gratified to finally reward our Linux users with a long overdue infusion of the latest Skype tech.

My daughter is a student in Montreal and this is what we did for her. No smartphone. No data plan. But we have her on our AT&T family plan using an unlocked phone. In Canada she has a plan with Fido that is month to month, lets her use her phone, and (we are told) can either be parked or terminated for the summer months. She swaps cards when she crosses the border. Simple. Effective. She has managed to loose two SIM cards already, but now she seems to have the routine down.

The other nice thing about this plan is that the other Canadian cell plans with the major carriers required a 3 year contract. Since those plans would be suspended for the summer months, she would have been under contract for her full 4 years of undergrad studies. Month to month looks sweet by comarison (even if Fido's network has gaps. Not in Montreal so far.)